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Belmont at Big A Fall Meet Offering 40 Stakes Worth $8.8M

The Belmont at the Big A Fall Meet will offer 40 added-money events worth nearly $8.8 million, officials from the New York Racing Association announced Saturday.

Due to ongoing capital improvements at Belmont Park, the fall meeting will be staged for the second straight season at Aqueduct from Thursday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Oct. 29, and will feature three Grade I events and a half-dozen 'Win and You're In' qualifiers in a variety of Breeders' Cup divisions.

The GIII Fasig-Tipton Jockey Club Oaks over 11 furlongs on turf, the final leg of the Fasig-Tipton Fillies Turf Triple, kicks off the stakes action Saturday, Sept. 16, and the program scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30 will feature four graded events, highlighted by the $500,000 GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at a mile and four panels on the grass. That card also includes the GII Woodward S., the GII Gallant Bloom S. and the GII Vosburgh S., offering the winner a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. An additional pair of qualifiers are set for Sunday, Oct. 1, both for the juvenile set at 8 1/2 furlongs on turf, the GII Miss Grillo S. for fillies and the GII Pilgrim S. for the boys.

The 'Win and You're In' action continues Saturday, Oct. 7, with the running of the $500,000 GI Champagne S., a Breeders' Cup Juvenile prep, and the filly counterpart, the $400,000 GI Frizette S. The card also includes the GIII Belmont Turf Sprint, the GIII Fasig-Tipton Waya S. and the GIII Jockey Club Derby, shortened from a mile and a half to a mile and three-eighths. The Sunday, Oct. 8, program features the last of the Breeders' Cup qualifiers, the GIII Futurity S., a feeder into the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, as well as the GII Beldame S. and the GIII Matron S.

The one-mile GII Kelso S. has been renamed the Forty Niner S. and will offer the top three finishers all-expenses paid berths into the GI Cigar Mile H. during the Aqueduct fall meeting. The Oct. 28 card also includes the GII Mother Goose S., previously held during the spring/summer meet at Belmont, the Listed Awad S. and the Listed Pumpkin Pie S.

The Belmont at the Big A meeting concludes with Empire Showcase Day, the richest events of which are the Empire Classic and Empire Distaff, each worth $250,000.

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Heider Family Foundation Issues Challenge Grant for Chaplaincy Summer Enrichment Program

Scott and Cindy Heider and their Heider Family Foundation have issued a $10,000 matching grant to raise money for the New York Race Track Chaplaincy's Summer Enrichment program, the focus of a TDN feature earlier this week.

The Chaplaincy started the summer program 10 years ago to allow families to stay together when racing shifts to Saratoga, sending the children to local summer camp programs while the parents work. “The kids love it,” Humberto Chavez, New York Chaplain for the Race Track Chaplaincy of America told the TDN last week. “They get out of city life and get into the country.”

Scott Heider saw the article, sent it to his wife, Cindy, and the pair decided to jump in and help.

“We race under Heider Family Stables, and we also have a foundation here in Omaha, the Heider Family Foundation,” Cindy explained. “We work with a lot of different organizations, whether it's under-served youth, education, a little bit in the arts, mental health, and over the years have supported some organizations in racing, like the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, programs on the backstretch, Blue Grass Farms Charities, and New Vocations. We like to support the good the work that everyone is doing; they're working really hard, and helping a lot of people working really hard that don't have great support systems. Scott saw the article, forwarded it to me, and we saw that the chaplaincy was doing some great work in the summer program. So between us, we said we should help them a little bit. and then when I talked to (General Manager) Karen (Chavez) today, I said to her, `I don't know if it's helpful to do a match, but if so, this is the time to do it.”

Said Chaplain Humberto Chavez, “We are grateful to TDN for allowing us to speak from the heart about what this program means for our families. The kids have the opportunity to experience the outdoors, make new friends, take on new challenges, and develop confidence in themselves and their abilities. We have found that the impact of participating in the summer program is lifelong and we often hear from the kids, now adults, who have come through the program what a difference it has made in their lives. We are thankful for the widespread support from the industry and individuals.”

Said Cindy Heider, “There are people who don't have access to help, and a lot of people don't want to ask for help. But it's important to reach out to those people, especially the kids.”

Asked why they were moved to give, she said simply, “It's not a why. It's a why not.”

The Heiders will match up to $10,000 that is raised from now through July 6. To donate, visit the Chaplaincy webpage's summer enrichment program page by clicking here.

All donations made up until July 6 will count toward the challenge grant.

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Two Phil’s Headlines Ohio Derby

Two Phil's (Hard Spun), a too-good-to-lose second after racing on top of a hot pace in the GI Kentucky Derby, kicks off the second half of his season in Saturday's GIII Ohio Derby at Thistledown.

The GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner has been firing bullets for trainer Larry Rivelli at Hawthorne since, including a five-furlong move in :59 (1/14) June 8.

Jockey Gerardo Corrales will replace the injured Jareth Loveberry in the irons.

'TDN Rising Star' Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo), drawn one to the inside of the 8-5 morning-line favorite in post three, came within a head of defeating subsequent GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) in a thrilling renewal of the GIII Peter Pan S. at Belmont May 13. The bay has been favored in all three of his previous career starts for trainer Brad Cox.

The field of eight also includes 59-1 GII Wood Memorial S. upsetter Lord Miles (Curlin). He was a late scratch from the Kentucky Derby and his trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. was suspended indefinitely by Churchill Downs when two of his horses died from unexplained causes leading up to the first Saturday in May.

Grade I Winners Meet in Chicago…

Grade I winners Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) and Society (Gun Runner) will throw down in Saturday's GIII Chicago S. going seven furlongs at Ellis Park.

Godolphin homebred Matareya, a debut winner over this track during her 2-year-old season, has a pair of top-level wins on her resume–the 2022 GI Acorn S. at Belmont Park and the GI Derby City Distaff S. most recently on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Society, a front-running heroine of last term's GI Cotillion S. at Parx, cuts back to one turn following a well-beaten ninth in the GI La Troienne S. May 5.

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Mage Returns To Work Tab

Mage (Good Magic) recorded his first published workout since winning the GI Kentucky Derby when he breezed five furlongs in 1:07.20 at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington Friday morning. His connections have yet to decide on his next start.

“We gave him 17 days without a saddle or, obviously, going to the track, so he got a really big break,” said co-owner Ramiro Restrepo. “He was kind of getting a bit bored and wanting to do something so it was time to get him rolling. He has been back on the track for a little under two weeks now. This was his first leg-stretcher. It was a little wake up call. This was not a matter of tightening the screws. It was more like his first day back in the gym.”

Restrepo said that no one should read too much into how slow the time of the work was.

“He had a little over two weeks of doing absolutely nothing and kind of laying out,” he said. “The last thing you would want is to rip him out of the gate. It was more of a strong gallop that was recorded as a breeze. It was the first work back, so the time has nothing to do with it. It was to show we're back in workout mode. We've never cared about his times in works. There's a bigger objective here than the time of a workout. You don't get prize money or trophies for winning in the mornings. It's just a fitness thing to get him up and at them.”

Restrepo said that three options are being discussed regarding where Mage will run next. They are the GI Haskell S., the GII Jim Dandy S. or the GI Travers.

“Whether we point him to the Jim Dandy, the Haskell or go straight to the Travers, there's a 33 percent chance with all three,” he said. “It's going to be a matter of seeing how he's doing once we get him on a steady work pattern. The No. 1 goal is to make it to the Travers. Bar none, the Travers is the big show for us. He's obviously proven at the mile and a quarter. He'll be shipping to Saratoga sooner rather than later.”

Also, yet to be resolved is what Javier Castellano will do in the event that Mage and GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) show up in the same race. If both stay healthy, they will likely face each other sometime this summer, perhaps in the Travers.

“So many things can happen and we are quite a ways away from when he races again, so we haven't even broached the subject with Javier regarding what his decision might be or what his thoughts are,” Restrepo said. “Let's not put the cart before the horse. Let's get him in race shape and then we will start having those discussions with Javier.”

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